Repository logo
 

Faculty of Management Sciences

Permanent URI for this communityhttp://ir-dev.dut.ac.za/handle/10321/13

Browse

Subject: search.filters.subject.School discipline--Zimbabwe

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Educating secondary school learners on nonviolence using a transformative approach to reduce violence in a Zimbabwean secondary school
    (2023-04) Moyo, Dorothy; Harris, Geoffrey Thomas
    Zimbabwe is facing increased violence by and against learners at institutions of learning. As part of efforts to reduce school violence, this study sought to educate learners on non-violence, using a transformative approach to learning. The aim of the study was to build a culture of peace at the school of study. To achieve this, the study used a participatory action research approach to address the problem and find solutions. The study was informed by Lederach’s Conflict Transformation theory and Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems theory. Twenty-four learners and four teachers were purposively sampled to participate in the study. Data was collected using questionnaires administered at the beginning of the study to 274 learners and 20 teachers. In addition, focus group discussions, interviews and observations were used to collect data. Working with participants, an intervention to address the problem was planned, implemented and evaluated. The intervention that was put in place was a peace club. Experiential learning was the pedagogy used by the peace club. To reinforce peace club learning peace club members attended a two-day workshop on conflict resolution and transformation. Quantitative data was analysed using percentages and reported in graphs and tables. Qualitative data was analysed using thematic analysis and reported in narrative form with the use of thick descriptions. The study was evaluated for short term outcomes and the finding of the study revealed that learners can be taught non-violent ways of resolving conflict. The main reason learners resort to violence as a way of resolving conflict is because they have not been taught non-violent alternative methods. Learners are brought up in violent settings, at home, school and wider community and as they develop, they learn that violence is a means to an end and the only way of resolving conflict. Since violence is learnt, it can also be unlearnt
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Building more peaceful schools in Harare
    (2018-06) Chiramba, Evernice Netsai; Harris, Geoffrey Thomas; Kaye, Sylvia Blanche
    School discipline is a challenge worldwide. Traditionally, Zimbabwean teachers have used punitive measures to obtain the desired behaviour from learners within schooling environments. However, the global outcry against human rights violations associated with corporal punishment caused the country’s education ministry to advocate for non-punitive approaches - without providing adequate alternatives. In the sphere of restorative justice, an action research project was conducted in six primary schools, of which three formed the control group. In the other three schools where the intervention was applied, 12 teachers were involved in establishing peace-making circles and peer mediation to 9-10-year-old students. Implementation details varied amongst the schools, but generally, the children had bi-weekly opportunities through the circles to tell their peers and teachers what they were experiencing and feeling. Interviews were conducted with four teachers; questionnaires were administered to ten pupils from each of the six schools and nine parents held focus group discussions on nonviolent ways of raising children, before and after the intervention. The parents’ efforts were meant to complement teachers’ efforts in laying the foundation for the desired discipline. Thematic analysis was used on the data. The findings revealed that peace-making circles and peer mediation enabled teachers to get to know their students and to respond pre-emptively to potential problems; furthermore, classroom disruptions were reduced. Parents’ efforts created smooth communication channels between the community and the school. The study showed that restorative justice could be a promising avenue to pursue further for addressing school discipline issues.